Spiritual Experiences of Muslim Critical Care Nurses

Spiritual Care Competencies and the Frequency of Spiritual Care Practices of Nurses in Turkey

This descriptive study aimed at determining the spiritual care competencies and the frequency of spiritual care practices of nurses. A total of 119 nurses working in the palliative care unit, oncology services, and intensive care units of a state hospital in Turkey participated in the study. The data were collected by the  Participant Information Form, Spiritual Care Competence Scale, and Nurse Spiritual Care Therapeutics Scale. Spiritual care competencies of the nurses were found to be high; the frequency of spiritual care practices was determined as moderate. We found a positive correlation between the spiritual care competencies and the frequency of spiritual care practices of nurses. There was a significant difference between nurses' received spiritual care training status and their scale scores. In addition, nurses who believed that spiritual care was an important part of nursing care, and an important need of patients, had higher scale scores.

The Relationship Between Meaning in Life, Life Satisfaction and Job Satisfaction with Religious Experience in the Life of Polish Nurses

This article examines the relationship between mental health dimensions such as meaning in life, life satisfaction, and job satisfaction, and the religious experience of God's presence and God's absence in the lives of Polish nurses with a bachelor and master's degree. The research was carried out in the city of Kraków, Poland. All nurses were brought up in Catholic families and declared themselves believing and practicing. The following research tools were used: the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Satisfaction with Job Scale, and the Intensity of Religious Experience Scale. Data analysis showed that the education level of Polish nurses does not significantly differentiate the analyzed variables. The correlation analysis showed that the strongest relationship was between satisfaction with life and satisfaction with job in the group of nurses with a bachelor's degree and nurses with a master's degree. The regression analysis showed that the strongest predictor of God's presence in the group of nurses with a bachelor's degree was satisfaction with job, and in the group of nurses with a master's degree it was satisfaction with life. The structural equation analysis revealed that the satisfaction with life plays an important and positive mediation role between the presence of the meaning in life and the search for the meaning in life, and the experience of God's presence and the experience of God's absence in the life of nurses.

The nurses' perceptions of spiritual care competency in intensive care units

The health-care system around the world has recognized the importance and usefulness of spirituality in the delivery of care. The goal of this study was to describe nurses' self-perceived ability in providing spiritual care to patients in Intensive Care Units, as well as to look into the relationship between demographic variables and their competencies. The researchers used a descriptive correlation design. There were 106 surveys distributed in total. Two large hospitals in Jouf, Saudi Arabia, had an 83.01% response rate. The self-reported questionnaire was completed by 88 nurses. The majority of nurses said they were capable of providing spiritual care to patients of the Islamic faith. Religions had statistically significant mean Spiritual Care Competency scores. It is critical to have a unified health strategy based on multidisciplinary collaborations to control spiritual care delivery, particularly in Intensive Care Units.

Gender as a Moderator of Spirituality and Spiritual Care in ICU Nurses During COVID-19 Pandemic

Background

Earlier research has found that female healthcare providers often report greater spirituality and spiritual care than males. This would evoke attention toward factors contributing to such differences, particularly gender.

Aim

To examine the moderating effects of gender on the relationships between demographic characteristics of ICU nurses and their perceived spirituality and spiritual care.

Methods

A cross-sectional correlational design was used to recruit a national sample of 865 nurses working in ICUs in Jordan and providing care to patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Data were collected using a self-report bilingual version of Spirituality and Spiritual Care Rating Scale (SSC) and analysed using the SPSS software package.

Results

Social status, monthly income, and receiving previous courses or lecture training on spirituality and spiritual care were predictors of higher SSCRS scores. Working with COVID-19 patients was a positive predictor (B = 0.074, p = 0.023), suggesting that working with COVID-19 patients is more likely to have a higher level of SSC. Gender was a negative predictor (B = -0.066, p = 0.046), suggesting that female participants are likelier to have a lower SSC score.

Conclusion

Working with patients during the COVID-19 pandemic positively impacted nurses' perception of SCC, but female nurses had lower score than male nurses indicating the need for more emphasis on training female nurses and exploring further the areas in which they need more training and to be able to provide an effective SSC. A sustainable up-to-date training and in-service education programs responding to nurses' needs and emerged emergencies crisis need to be integrated into nursing quality of care policy development.

Spiritual care in Australian general practice nursing: An interpretive descriptive study

Spiritual care as an aspect of holistic or person-centered care has been well documented. Studies on spirituality and spiritual care in nursing have taken place in various countries and contexts. Studies about spiritual care from the nurse perspective in the primary healthcare setting of Australian General Practice are not evident. Using an interpretive description study design, data about views on spirituality, spiritual care experiences, and descriptions about any spiritual care provided were collected from eight practice nurses. Four themes were drawn from the findings: the personal importance of spirituality and spiritual care to nurses and patients, spiritual care as an aspect of person-centered care, spiritual care practices, and barriers and enablers to addressing spiritual needs. Participants identified that practice nurses require improved education about spirituality to adequately address spiritual needs as expressed by patients, as well as the tools to be able to provide spiritual care. They also identified that documentation templates used in general practice should include prompts to address spiritual and/or religious needs.

Burnout and spirituality among nurses: A scoping review

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the relationship between spirituality / religiousness and Burnout Syndrome in nurses, as well as to examine the current evidence for spiritual/religious interventions to alleviate their symptoms.

DATA SOURCES

A scoping review was conducted using CINAHL, SCOPUS, Web of Science, Pubmed databases, and grey literature, between January and July 2020.

STUDY SELECTION

Two researchers performed the searches with a 95% agreement rate for the inclusion and exclusion of the studies. Both quantitative and qualitative studies published in peer-reviewed journals, using Spanish, Portuguese or English language were included. Restriction on publication date was not applied.

DATA EXTRACTION

A total of 1143 articles were identified and 18 were included in the final analysis. Quality assessment was performed, following CONSORT, STROBE, PRISMA and COREQ guidelines. Finally, the following data were extracted: authors, year, country, study design and sample characteristics, purpose of the study, and major findings.

DATA SYNTHESIS

The results of the present review show that spirituality / religiousness is a common strategy used by nurses when coping with stress and burnout. Most studies reveal that spiritual and religious beliefs are correlated with lower levels of burnout, exhaustion and depersonalization in different settings. Nevertheless, two studies have not found any relationship and one study has found worse outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a lack of experimental studies trying to examine if spiritual interventions could modify burnout levels in clinical practice. Health managers should be aware of the spirituality / religiousness of their nurses and provide the appropriate spiritual support.

Does volunteering change attitudes towards people with disabilities? A qualitative study of the experience of orthodox Jewish nursing students

BACKGROUND

People with disabilities identify negative staff attitudes and behaviors as barriers to accessing health services. Studies show that nursing education activities specific to people with disabilities improves nursing care. This study explores the experience of orthodox Jewish nursing students volunteering with people with disabilities, how their attitudes towards this population changed.

DESIGN

A qualitative design was used. This research is part of an extensive ongoing study of orthodox and ultra-orthodox (Haredi) students volunteering with people with disabilities.

METHODS

Data from 13 semi-structured interviews, conducted between July and September 2017, with 14 male students (two students chose to be interviewed together) and four people with disabilities were analyzed using thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Volunteering enhanced students' awareness of the needs of people with disabilities, changed their attitude towards this population and enhanced their confidence as nurses. The individuals with disabilities valued the help they received as well as the opportunity to change the students' prior notions and stigmas regarding disability.

CONCLUSIONS

Projects such as ours could improve the attitude of nursing staff towards individuals with disabilities and improve nursing care. We recommend involving people with disabilities in designing such projects.

The influence of spirituality and religion on critical care nursing: An integrative review

BACKGROUND

Spiritual care could help family members and critically ill patients to cope with anxiety, stress and depression. However, health care professionals are poorly prepared and health managers are not allocating all the resources needed.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

To critically review the empirical evidence concerning the influence of spirituality and religion (S-R) on critical care nursing.

METHODS

An integrative review of the literature published in the last 10 years (2010-2019) was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, CINHAL, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Cochrane and LILACS. In addition, searches were performed in the System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe and the Grey Literature Report. Quantitative and/or qualitative studies, assessing S-R and including health care professionals caring for critically ill patients (i.e. adults or children), were included.

RESULTS

Forty articles were included in the final analysis (20 qualitative, 19 quantitative and 1 with a mixed methodology). The studies embraced the following themes: S-R importance and the use of coping among critical care patients and families; spiritual needs of patients and families; health care professionals' awareness of spiritual needs; ways to address spiritual care in the intensive care unit (ICU); definition of S-R by health care professionals; perceptions and barriers of addressing spiritual needs; and influence of S-R on health care professionals' outcomes and decisions. Our results indicate that patients and their families use S-R coping strategies to alleviate stressful situations in the ICU and that respecting patients' spiritual beliefs is an essential component of critical care. Although nurses consider spiritual care to be very important, they do not feel prepared to address S-R and report lack of time as the main barrier.

CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Critical care professionals should be aware about the needs of their patients and should be trained to handle S-R in clinical practice. Nurses are encouraged to increase their knowledge and awareness towards spiritual issues.

The effectiveness of spiritual interventions in the workplace for work-related health outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis

AIM

To investigate the effectiveness of spiritual interventions in the workplace for different health outcomes through the use of a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND

Most studies including spirituality in the workplace investigated it at the organisational/business level, while giving a secondary value to the well-being and quality of life of the workers.

METHODS

Systematic review and meta-analysis carried out on the following databases: SCOPUS, PubMed and Web of Science. Spiritual interventions investigating work-related health outcomes were included. Then, meta-analyses were conducted.

RESULTS

From a total of 2,832 studies, 7 articles were included in the systematic review and 6 in the meta-analysis. Spiritual interventions, as compared to controls, improved the health outcomes of the workers (standard mean difference (SMD), -1.42; 95% CI, -1.98, -0.86; p < .001; I²  = 96%). Subanalyses revealed that yoga was an effective intervention and that stress was reduced by these interventions.

CONCLUSION

Spiritual interventions in the workplace seem to be effective in improving workers' health. Nevertheless, the high heterogeneity and limited number of studies may hinder more robust conclusions at the moment.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

The use of spiritual interventions should be considered in workplaces in order to reduce the stress and other negative outcomes.

Spiritual care in the intensive care unit: An integrative literature research

PURPOSE

The aim of this study is to review the literature for three major domains in relation to spiritual care in the ICU, namely Quality of Life (QoL), Quality of Care (QoC), and Education (E).

METHOD

An integrative literature research.

RESULTS

The 113 selected articles reveal that spirituality is an essential component of QoL and that complementary and effective spiritual care (SC) relieves distress of patients and their relatives. Furthermore, the contribution of SC to quality of care is: 1) diagnosing and addressing spiritual and emotional needs among patients and their relatives; 2) offering spiritual comfort to the patient in distress; 3) increased spiritual well-being of both patients and their relatives; 4) increased family satisfaction in general and by shared decision-making. Finally, the literature reveals the necessity to improve SC knowledge and skills of ICU healthcare professionals (IC HCPs) through relevant training courses.

CONCLUSION

SC contributes to QoL and QoC. The literature indicates that IC HCPs acknowledge the need to improve their SC knowledge and skills to enhance complementary, effective SC. Further research on SC as an integrated part of daily ICU care is necessary to improve QoL and QoC of patients and their relatives.

Midwifery Students' Perceptions of Spirituality and Spiritual Care: An Example from Western Turkey

This cross-sectional study aimed to explore Turkish midwifery students' perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care and to investigate the factors affecting them. Data were collected from 271 students of the Midwifery Department of the High School of Health of a state university in the west of Turkey using the Spirituality and Spiritual Care Rating Scale. A significant difference was found between belief in the need for spiritual care and the practice of spiritual care during midwifery training and the total score on the Spirituality and Spiritual Care Rating Scale, but no significant difference was found between the students' year of class, whether they had heard about spiritual care, and their state of knowledge concerning spiritual care. An increase in awareness, knowledge and skills relating to spirituality and spiritual care on the part of midwifery students, who are the midwives of the future, will allow students to provide spiritual care to their patients after they qualify. For this reason, the education program of midwifery students should be seen from a holistic standpoint in order to develop spiritual care.